Everything
by Ordinary Insanity
Summary: "But if I had everything, would I still want to be alive? Would I still want to be alive?" Izaya x OC. First chapter has been rewritten.
1. Everything

**Author's Note: In case anyone is confused by the reviews, this used to be a songfic. I've been informed, however, that such stories are against the rules, as they contain lyrics from copyrighted songs. Oh well. It's been rewritten as to no longer include them, as has the second chapter. Sorry for the trouble. Please enjoy the chapter, and review if you did! Even if it's a negative one, I'd really appreciate it as reviews always give me the enthusiasm and drive to keep writing my stories.**

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The heavy rain pelted the streets of Tokyo's bustling sub district, the sound of its splashes echoing through the streets. From a rooftop, the umbrellas of the city's residents could be seen dotting the sidewalks; beneath one was a shy, quiet girl worried about her missing friend and just trying to get home through the crowd to her small apartment. Beneath another, two otakus took shelter from the storm, each clutching their newly bought manga protectively as they waited for a familiar van and its owner to come and pick them up. Under yet one more was an upbeat teenager, his yellow hair and bright attitude making him stand out from the others as he made his way to a train station to meet his childhood friend. And just down the street from these few was a devious informant, fast approaching a scene he had not quite expected.

That very man had set out to find someone today; to acquire a useful pawn that he had been interested in for quite a while now. For you see, it had been a long-standing goal of his to find a good hacker to aid in his quest for information. Not the best; he knew that would be a risk. The best of a trade like this were always wary of their clientele, and rarely offered their loyalty to any one person, especially one who was not obviously trustworthy. He was aware, of course, that anyone who did not reside under an isolated rock knew that he was the farthest thing from trustworthy. Besides, he had decided, a hacker with a lesser reputation would be far harder to track.

Thus, when he realized that Keiko Sugihara had found her way into his chat room, he couldn't resist the incredibly lucky opportunity. She was just what he was looking for; far from the best, but able to get in and out of nearly any computer without leaving a trace. For a goodly amount of time, the two of them chatted daily, becoming what the young girl thought of as friends. And over the next months, as the two of them grew closer and closer, and Keiko grew more and more curious as to who her new friend really was. Not that she was suspicious, more so that she wanted to pay them a surprise visit and meet them in real life. And the technologically-inclined young woman had no qualms invading his privacy for the sake of her very potent curiosity. She was surprised to find out her online friend's true identity.

However, despite the fact that she knew not to trust him, she still valued him as one of the few friends she had. He caught on to this fairly quickly, and knew to use it perfectly to his advantage. And so they went on talking, as if nothing had changed. Though, it was not in the informant's agenda to simply befriend her for the sake of having a new acquaintance; it had always been his intention for him to find a very useful game piece in her. So, as he began to grow tired of their meaningless conversations, he decided that now would be as good a time as ever to finally meet her in person; and with a metallic slam behind him, he had arrived on the rooftop on which the two would finally meet.

The steady flow of raindrops hitting her had long since plastered her brown hair to her face, and a shiver wracked her body though she did not feel cold. The young woman took another steady step towards the ledge of a building that's name she did not care to know, and she opened her dark eyes and leaned forward. Looking down, she waited for her stomach to flip or her knees to buckle. After waiting for several seconds only to come to the disappointing realization that it would simply not happen, she leaned forward in a desperate attempt to feel what she had only seen described in books and movies. The girl faintly noticed the now strong gusts of wind threatening to push her completely off the edge, too absorbed in her own vivid imagination to care; a racing heart, shaking limbs, butterflies flying crash courses in her stomach, adrenaline pumping through her veins… She could almost feel it; it was so close, so nearly in her reach, and yet so painfully far away. Looking down once more, disappointment rushed through her like a wave, and she briefly considered letting herself fall simply to see what would happen.

"Are you going to jump?" An indifferent yet commanding voice inquired, shattering not only the silence of the rooftop, but the adrenaline-filled delusion of the young girl. Unbeknownst to her, the abandoned building she had chosen as her location was not nearly as isolated as she had intended it to be, and a raven-haired passerby happened to have seen her teetering on the edge of life and death. Upon deciding to go enjoy the situation, he had not realized who exactly it was that stood, barely balanced, on the ledge of the old building. It was much to his amusement that it was _her_; after all, she was the one that he was braving the storm to search for, though this was far from where he had expected to find her.

It was funny, she decided, that he would be the one to find her here. She was not ignorant of much, and was well aware of the time he spent visiting girls on rooftops before they plummeted to their deaths. Never had she expected to be one of them, though she did not intend to hit the ground by any means. This was not quite how she had expected their first meeting to be, either. So, she met his question with laughter that sounded sharper than she thought it would be, not turning to look at him as she gave him her answer. "Of course not," she finally replied, as if it should have been obvious to him; in her opinion, it really should have been. The brunette did not take kindly to being grouped in with all of his suicidal minions. Speaking more to herself, she continued; "All I want is for it to beat faster, just once." Her hand found its way to her heart with those words, and she silently listened to its beating.

The informant in the fur-lined jacket knew many things about the young woman; far more than she would ever know that he was aware of. However, none of that had prepared him for that response. It would not have surprised him to hear that, beneath the many masks she had taken to wearing, she was just like so many other young girls whose last moments he had experienced. He would not have been shocked to learn that she was just as ordinary as everyone else, for she had never seemed anything but that to him; her personality hadn't been what he was interested in, but her talent. Now, however, he was faced with a new response, and it was one that sparked his interest. He did not dismiss the possibility that she could be just another adrenaline junkie in need of a thrill, though he had a feeling that that was not the case. Thus, as the young information broker approached her, he did so with curiosity and asked the obvious question with no clue, for once, what her answer would be; "What are you talking about?"

Much to his irritation, she did not grace his inquiry with a reply. The girl had no interest in uselessly answering his questions; she, too, knew a good deal about him, though most of it was only heard from gossiping Ikebukorians. What she knew for certain, though, was that when he asked, he only did so to satisfy his own curiosity. It did her no good to do that, so she instead focused on the relaxing sound of the pouring rain and let another gust of wind blow her body further out of balance.

Finding her silence increasingly tedious, the young man lost patience with waiting for a response that was not coming. When he noticed the strong blowing of the wind, he briefly considered that it could knock the careless girl down to her death before he received his answer. That in mind, he grabbed her wrist to balance her and bring her down to the safer ground of the roof. The sudden gesture seemed to have snapped her out of whatever half-aware state she had been in, and she violently shook off his hand, nearly losing her balance in the process. "Leave me alone!" she half-yelled, though she was not as full of anger as she was full of desperation, clinging to a hope that if she remained on the ledge for just a while longer, she might finally achieve what she was looking for.

When he released his grip on her and let his hand return to the warm pocket of his furry jacket, she calmed down noticeably. Immediately, she turned back from him to the empty street below, and soon let out a disappointed sigh as she sank to a sitting position on the ledge. "I just wanted to feel something," she started quietly, finally deciding to reply to his question. "It doesn't matter what I do, my heart won't ever race."

"Exercise usually does the trick," the informant replied, his telltale smirk stretching across his lips. His tone was sarcastic, successfully masking his interest in what she was saying. Perhaps, he thought, this young woman had some value past her technological skills. Maybe, just maybe, he could make a new toy out of her.

A laugh escaped her lips, and she grinned at him. "That wasn't what I meant."

"So you want to feel, is that it? You've been empty inside for too long, and you want to know what it's like for your heart to race," he confirmed, expression unchanging as his red-tinted eyes remained fixed on her, watching for her reaction. She was turning out to be more fun than he had expected, though it still wasn't hard for him to figure her out.

She merely nodded blankly, giving him no indication that she even _had_ a reaction to what he'd said besides agreement. The hacker knew just what sort of games he played with people, and the joy he took from their reactions to his words; she was more than capable of playing it with him.

"How foolish," the informant continued, succeeding in capturing her attention as she, somewhat surprised, turned to face him. Curiosity shrouded her eyes, and he took that as his queue to continue. "Don't you see that feeling nothing is an advantage? Humans are constantly held back and crippled by their emotions. If they could only see past them, think with logic and reason before feelings, they would be capable of so much more. You are capable of that, and yet here you are, wanting to throw that away~ So, I'll say it again; how foolish~," Izaya finished, smirking in satisfaction with his explanation.

The brown-haired hacker only looked at him, blinked, and shrugged her shoulders before turning away once again. "Yeah, I guess. I don't really care," she replied simply, watching out of the corner of her eye just in time to see the raven-haired man's smirk falter. As always, she didn't give him the reaction he was looking for. She wondered if he had expected her to have an epiphany, a moment of realization of the error in her ways because of his words. He probably did, she decided. And while her reply was honest, she did get some enjoyment out of his dissatisfaction.

"Whether or not it's foolish doesn't make the slightest difference to me," she continued, shrugging nonchalantly, "I just want to know what it's like." When she turned to look at him, he finally saw something besides emptiness in her eyes; he saw the desperation she felt, and he recognized that feeling well. In fact, he recognized her entire situation well, for he, too, had experienced it before. Before he had finally come to the realization that his entire lack of feelings had been to his benefit, he too had yearned for the adrenaline and the rush that he had only heard about.

But, he decided as he shook off the memory, that had been a long time ago, and was far from relevant. What was relevant, however, to the matter at hand was that he knew exactly how to use that desperation to his benefit. Not only that, but it would certainly serve as amusing for him as well; she would be a challenge, another game to conquer. Whether that would take much effort or not was beyond him for the time being, but he looked forward to it nonetheless.

And just as he was about to propose the perfect offer to her, he was interrupted by her voice once again. "Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing what?" he asked, dark eyebrow raising in curiosity.

"Talking to me on that chat room, pretending to be my friend. You must have an end goal; nobody does anything without one. I don't know why people don't just say outright what they want. It would be faster that way. If the person said no, well, then that would be a good time to start tricking them."

"Who's pretending? I thought we _were_ friends, Keiko-chan~," he started, grinning a fake, innocent smile at her before continuing. "Oh well, I suppose you've got me there. I do have a goal; an offer for you, to be exact." He turned around, getting up from his seat on the ledge.

She nodded, satisfied that he was at least that honest. Keiko turned around to face him, remaining seated as she replied. "And what would that be?"

"I want you to work for me," he began, smirk returning to his face. He knew she would accept long before he asked. "I am an information broker, and the information you can get, as a hacker, would be very valuable to me."

"What would I get in return?" Despite her concerns, the question still escaped her lips. She knew she'd probably end up accepting his offer either way; she'd be able to quit her second job, and, of course, pure curiosity played a part as well.

"Well, I'd pay you, of course. But anyone can do that, so I'll add something else. Keiko-chan, if you accept my offer, I promise…" he began, and leaned closer to her as he did, "…I will make your heart beat fast." The moment he saw that interest and excitement flash across her eyes, he knew that he'd won her over. "So," he continued, straightening up again, "Do we have a deal?" he asked finally, reaching his hand out for a handshake.

Keiko was silent for a moment, thinking over her options. She could use the money, of course; working two jobs just to pay for her apartment was not desirable. That, however, was not her highest priority at the moment. She wondered; was Izaya really capable of giving her what she had been yearning for for so long? Part of her very much hoped so. At this point, she was so desperate that she practically jumped at any chance, even the slightest idea. And part of her, the more potent part that had prevented her from immediately accepting his deal with excitement remind her of who he was, what she had heard that he had done, what she knew he was capable of. She knew he would keep up his end of the bargain to the best of his abilities, but did she really want him to?

But in the end, she had no choice. They both knew from the moment that he offered, she would accept. "Yes. We have a deal."


	2. A Proper Introduction

**Author's Note: I don't know about this one. I didn't have much inspiration, but I wanted to write something, and this is the result. As usual, if you liked it, please review; I can't stress that enough. Reviews mean a lot to me, like they do every author.**

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Tapping her fingers on the empty librarian's desk, the brown-haired hacker impatiently waited for some important files for a certain someone to print from the old, nearly obsolete printer. She'd have been much happier using her own wireless and much faster printer in the comfort of her home, but that was rarely where she went to work. As a precaution, Keiko generally brought her portable USB operating system with her and worked using public computers, at places like libraries and sometimes even computer stores, if the job wouldn't take much time. This way, should someone ever actually manage to trace her actions back to her, that location would be far from her home, at a public place with a computer ID different from her own. She supposed that if a person could find a way to trace her, they could also get the security tapes from said public place and see her, but even that would be better than them knowing her personal address.

This was why she found herself hastily grabbing the now-printed papers, stuffing them in an envelope as she listened for the dreaded sound of the returning footsteps of the librarian. Her employer had told her that these documents needed to be printed immediately, and the young hacker had been frustrated to find that there were no printers available for public use at this particular library. So, she found herself resorting to tricking the librarian into leaving her desk, only to sneak behind it to use the only printer she could locate. Now, as the woman was returning, Keiko quickly grabbed her USB drive from its port and made her escape, just in time to walk through some rows of bookshelves and disappear, unnoticed. As she was out of sight, she breathed a sigh of relief, grinning in satisfaction at herself. Opening her bag, she dropped the envelope inside, and walked through the library's exit.

Nearby, a familiar informant, too, was making his escape, though one might encounter difficulty comparing Keiko's librarian to the brute of a bartender ruthlessly chasing after him. All Izaya had done was harmlessly try to eat some fatty tuna in the park when Shizuo found him; he failed to see how this was an offense worthy of such anger and violence, but this _was _to be expected from his beloved Shizu-chan.

Narrowly dodging a bent and broken street sign, the information broker simply laughed sharply and sent the blonde bartender a smirk as he continued to run and evade the man's attacks. Any onlookers must have thought him to be insane, laughing in the face of Ikebukuro's angered, most dangerous citizen. But then again, this _was _to be expected from the city's renowned Izaya Orihara.

Turning sharply into an alley, Izaya's reddish-brown eyes locked onto his destination; what could easily be the city's most crowded street. Hearing the bodyguard quickly approaching behind him, he barely had time to catch his breath before running once more, faster than before and at top speed, as if he was a bike shifting gears. As quickly as he could manage, he dashed into the crowd and disappeared, his form masked by the masses of people surrounding him. The raven-haired informant knew that he only had a short time before the sight of a raging Shizuo caused the crowd to split, and he didn't want to be revealed as a result; thus, at the first opportunity, the young man ducked into another alley, catching his breath as he waited. Upon hearing a familiar, furious voice shout his name, he smirked and watched as the blonde ran past, not seeing him in his fairly obvious hiding spot. _Typical, _he thought, _the brute was never known for his intelligence._

When the coast was decidedly clear, the informant shoved his hands into the pockets of his fur-lined coat and walked back into the now calm main street. While he did have work to do, none of it was pressing enough to require his attention for at least a couple of hours. So, he decided he might as well spend his afternoon wandering through the busy, bustling streets of Ikebukuro, in hopes of finding an interesting human who captured his interest, And just then, he did, as his eyes met those of a familiar face; his beloved new hacker.

"Good afternoon, Keiko-chan~. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working on that new job I gave you?" he asked, stopping and turning to talk with the subject of his interest.

"Done it," was her simple response, as the brown-haired hacker retrieved the envelope and passed it to him.

"Ah, good work~," he praised, taking it from her and examining it, deciding to look at its contents later.

She merely nodded dismissively, switching to her next subject. "I want to talk to you."

"Oh, is that so? Well then, let's talk somewhere quieter. Shall we go for sushi? My treat~ My lunch was rudely interrupted, so I didn't get to eat~," he fake-pouted, and she nodded once again, before the two were off to a well-known restaurant and greeted by everyone's favorite, Simon.

Once the pair was seated and had ordered, they passed their menus back to Simon, thanking him as he took them away.

"So, Keiko-chan, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked, ever-present smirk gracing his lips as he looked upon her with curiosity.

"Well, I've been working for you for over two weeks, and I only know your name and a bit of your reputation, while you know more than I'm comfortable with you knowing about me. Basically, I want to know more about you, so talk," she explained, face void of any expression as she waited for him to do just that.

He only chuckled, leaning back in his seat as he watched her. "How demanding~. Besides, we've been talking online for months, you know me very well~."

"No, all I know is the person you pretended to be, and that you're as arrogant as a person can be," she replied thoughtfully, not showing any signs of resentment towards him for lying to her, as she thought back to their last meeting.

He raised an eyebrow, smirking wider at her. "Don't be so rude, Keiko-chan~," he chided, pretending to be offended, before continuing. "But if you really want to know, my name is Izaya Orihara, and I'm an information broker," he explained, intentionally trying to irritate her, as he realized she knew every bit of this and more.

She rolled her eyes, leaning forward as she leaned her arm on the table, the other hand holding up her head as she leaned on it, a bored expression adorning her face. "Don't be irritating, you know I know that. I mean more along the lines of telling me why you spend your time online with an entirely different identity, creepily like a pedophile, and talking to girls like me. And why you're suspiciously involved with the suicides of several teenage girls. And why Shizuo is always trying to kill you – I mean, seriously, the guy needs to chill out. You must've done something to piss him off, though, right? What was—"

"One question at a time, Keiko-chan," he replied, cutting her off with the dismissive wave of his hand. "What makes you think I didn't just talk to you because I wanted us to be friends?" he asked, still smirking as he addressed her first question. "How did you find out about those suicides? And Shizu-chan's just generally violent, long past the point of reason. Just because he takes his anger out on me doesn't mean I did something wrong~."

She laughed. "Friends are normally honest about their gender and personality, Orihara-san," she replied, appearing genuinely amused by the idea that he thought she'd fall for that. "I've heard rumors," she answered his second question with a shrug. "I've noticed, but I still think you did something. He doesn't take his anger out on just anybody." She stopped for a moment, thinking about what she'd said. "Okay, maybe he does, but you still seem like a special case."

He grinned at her, amused. "I suppose that's true~. Well then, I'll give you one reason and leave it at that; I love humans, and I find them to be endlessly interesting. And Keiko-chan is a _very _interesting human," _Not to mention useful, _he finished mentally. "Well, that would explain it; those are just rumors. You shouldn't believe everything you hear from others, you know~." He chuckled at her last statement, sighing in resignation. "Alright, let's say it's a long story; one that started back in high school."

"… I see," she replied, thinking over his answer for a moment. She decided that if he was willing to lie to someone for three months so tirelessly just because they interested him, she'd have to be wary around him. "Doesn't it get tiring to lie to people for so long, though?" the brown-haired young woman asked, genuinely curious about his answer. "And by that logic, doesn't that mean I shouldn't believe everything I hear from _you_?" Keiko countered, smiling a bit.

He watched her closely, gauging her reaction to his mysterious explanation, a bit disappointed when all she did was briefly acknowledge it. He smirked once more, however, when she continued by asking her question; it seemed she'd said something unexpected once again. "Are you really one to ask that question, Keiko-chan~?" he asked, knowing it would bother her to know that he knew more about her than she thought; and she thought he knew quite a bit already. He grinned at her last comment, throwing his hands up in defeat. "Smart girl~."

She merely blinked, not sure whether or not to be surprised that he knew so much, and grinned. "That's true, I already know the answer. I guess why I asked was because I wanted to know why you seem to enjoy lying so much. I know how tiring it is to do all the time, so I don't understand why you don't seem to ever get sick of it," she explained, and he raised an eyebrow.

She really was full of surprises, he decided, but answered her question nonetheless. "You and I are different, and therefore have different reasons for lying. My reasons just happen to be quite entertaining, so I don't get bored or tired with it~."

She was quiet, her face displaying minor confusion. "Do you not agree?" Izaya asked, raising an eyebrow upon seeing her reaction.

"Not completely. We both lie to disguise who we really are from the people around us, even if that's for different reasons. I don't understand why you find it amusing."

He merely smirked. "Maybe I'll give you a glimpse of my world, sometime. You'll see why it's such fun, then, I'm sure~."

Just as the hacker was about to reply, the intimidating yet friendly Simon appeared once again, interrupting them to bring some seemingly appetizing sushi which, he assured them both, did not contain humans even on the cheapest days. Izaya simply grinned, while Keiko questioned why human sushi would sell for cheaper, even though it would be harder to come by. The informant only grinned wider at that, before they both began their meal.

Each of them was thinking the exact same thing before their conversation turned more into small talk; _"This will be interesting."_


End file.
